WolfPack Team Update Racing, Racing and more Racing. The past 2 months have been so much fun having the team working well and getting more familiar with the great products that have come our way. It was great being able to work closer with quite a few of the sponsors this season and it really shows with the effort that everyone is providing to this project. With the first VDHS round completed I think we made a great impression with the DH racing community and it was great to get some positive feedback from the other teams and riders. With more exciting times and adventures ahead, it’s going to be one unforgettable season. A great bunch of mates and a great sport, how could we ask for anything more!
WolfPack Media Liam Renault (LR Productions) and Tim Curtis (Magneto Design) have been busy working on the WolfPack “On the Hunt” series of videos which will document the entire WolfPack racing season. It’s a great way for you to check on the team’s progress and to also have some light entertainment on the way. The purpose of the videos is to show a wider audience outside of the racing community what it’s like to travel around country racing a mountain bike. The number one goal is to hopefully inspire more people to take part in the sport and grow mountain biking as a whole. It’s also a great opportunity to show off the team’s products and sponsors whilst also showing the different personality’s from the 6 different riders. We are trying to give the videos a different twist so that they can be more appealing to people outside of the racing scene. The wolfpack is all about the fun aspect of the events so hopefully we can capture this on video. Please see the links to the first 3 episodes of the On the Hunt series Episode 1 – the guys catch up for a pre-season team ride weekend http://vimeo.com/31524796 Episode 2 – The team races in the first round of the VDHS at the You Yangs http://vimeo.com/31590780 Episode 3 – The team have a fun ride day at Narbethong followed by the VDHS round 2 at Shepparton http://vimeo.com/31842717 Once again your feedback is appreciated. Weather you would like to leave a comment about the videos on Vimeo, Facebook or just by sending me an e-mail we can then work together on some ideas and develop the series even further. Expect some big things to come. This is only the beginning.
Race Report Victorian Downhill Series Round #2: Shepparton The second round of the VDHS came up quite quickly. This event saw the team travel into northern Victoria to race at Mt Major, Shepparton. The hill is quite small, with only 100 vertical meters but it’s very interesting with how the builders designed the course. With a similar size and length to the previous round at the You Yang’s you might expect the tracks to be the same but once you jump on your bike you quickly understand that the tracks are very different to each other. Shepparton is very open with no trees on the side of the hill that the course is cut into. This leaves the trail very exposed and dry. With temperatures in the mid 30’s all weekend the course had become very dusty and loose and bike setup and tyres were very important to get right. Lucky the Schwable tyres are great a keeping traction so the team had that covered. The drawback for this weekend was that the team was running at 50%. Unfortunately we had once again suffered some injuries with both Fabian and Rollie crashing at a ride day just 4 days before the race. David Leach (who was still able to race) had also injured his shoulder on the same day XC riding with some other friends. Jack unfortunately had to stay at home and study for his VCE exams but the team does realise that this is an important time for him so we will hope to see him back on the bike at the next race. This just left Nathan Murphy and Michael Watt being fit and ready for the race, perhaps this has something to do with all the training they have been doing at the i-Train Fitness studio. We had the team tents setup right next to the track once again to maximize the exposure for the banners and the shade that the tents offered was greatly appreciated. Once again the rider turnout was not quite what the VDHS was expecting but there was still quite a large elite field. With many riders not happy with their race runs at the first event the completion was going to be fierce and quite a few of the fast interstate riders were present once again. With Rollie and Fabian on the side lines watching the team had great support. The boys were still ready to give their best on a track that required exceptional bike handling skills as the surface was very loose and dusty. The riders who were able to find the traction in the corners were going to get the fastest race times as the course was quite narrow and was almost one line down most of the track.
Michael Watt
• Wolfpack
Off camber corners, aggressive rock gardens, big jumps and barely a berm to be seen, that’s what Mt Major is all about. After rocking up at eight o’clock I did a leisurely track walk and found the track to be exactly the same as last year, I got back down the bottom as practice was starting and found the wolfpack had sniffed out some territory and set up our site. I did a lot of runs with Nato and Leachy all weekend and this helped a lot with the pack all sharing different lines and techniques, a highlight of the weekend for me was seeing Nato conquer his demons and attack (like a wolf) the jump that claimed him in last year’s race, by the end of practice on Sunday I was fairly happy with how my runs were progressing but still would have liked more practice.
With a few wolves out through injury, Mt Major was not such a great race for the pack, but they still all showed up (minus Jack who was working hard on his exams) and cheered, hollered, yelled, screamed and made a general ruckus louder than anyone when it came to finals, which created an awesome atmosphere to race in and that’s what it’s all about! Massive thanks to Schwalbe for making rad tyres, GU for keeping me full of beans, Magneto design for the pimpin kits, Rory at I- Train for making me sweat and of course Liam Renaut Productions for standing in the sun all weekend filming and making such amazing videos.
• Tyre choice, performance and pressure I was unsure of which SCHWALBE tyres to run on the dusty off camber track but decided to try a 2.35 Wicked Will vert star on the rear and a 2.4 Big Betty vert star up the front; I ran my usual tyre pressures of 30psi rear and 25psi front. This combination worked well all weekend giving a good compromise between grip and low rolling resistance. All weekend the SCHWALBE tyres provided all the traction I could want and I still haven’t had a flat tyre with them, however I probably would have chosen the more aggressive Big Betty or Muddy Mary for the rear had I anticipated just how slippery the track would become for race runs. • Qualifying and Race run A lot of great riders didn’t qualify at you yangs because they tried to conserve too much, this was not something I wanted to do at this race so I gave it everything! There were plenty of mistakes in my run (especially through the rocks) but it was good enough to get 8th with a time of 2 mins 13 point something seconds, pretty happy! Tracks always seem to deteriorate for race runs and this was no exception, I was quite surprised at how slippery the track had become, I got some fairly wild drift going on in a lot of corners that cost me a bit of time but was still great fun, I got the main rock garden the best I had all weekend and the cheers from the pack through the bottom jumps are always a great motivator to go faster, I pedalled my little legs off over the line for a time of 2.16, about 3 secs slower than my qual time, this was good enough to get 10th place as everyone else struggled with the slippery track conditions too. All in all a result I’m very happy with but know I can improve upon.
David Leach I rolled into Mt Major, Shepparton with the injured Fabian as my co-pilot and the Wolf bus loaded up for a big weekend of racing. I had memories of last year’s race where I crashed out on my final run so I was keen to have better luck this time around. It was great to see Rollie and Fabian coming out to the race even though they are both recovering from injuries sustained while training. As practise wore-on during Saturday the heat rose and we were all reaching for the GU Electrolyte drinks to keep us on track for as long as possible. I felt good as I was starting to feel confident on the track and had spent time working on the sections I had trouble with. The shuttles were a little on the slow side so I only managed about 5 practise runs in the day. The team went out for a huge dinner together and all crashed out fairly early as all the guys had been in the sun a lot during the day. On the morning of the race I did a quick walk up the track with Watty to discuss lines and check if anything new had developed that I might have missed. I checked my pressures in my Schwalbe Muddy Marys (awesome grip in the loose dusty turns) and was off to join the shuttle queue. Two practise runs followed with our final run being a “3 wolf train” for some fun. Unfortunately we were riding behind an U19’s rider who crashed badly, broke his leg and hit his head hard. He was quickly seen to by first aid and we wish him a speedy recovery. In my qualifying run I was riding smooth and was having a good run until I deflected off a rock in the steep rock garden which sent me the long way through the section and lost me a fair bit of time. The rest of my run turned a bit messy as I was rushing to try to make back time. In the end I missed out on qualifying by a few seconds which I was very disappointed with. I beat my time from last year by 6 seconds but would have smashed it had I stayed smooth for the whole run. As finals rolled around we took to the hill with the Megaphone at full volume to yell for Watty and our other friends who had made the cut. Finals got pretty wild to say the least. I’m looking forward to Round 3 in early December at the awesome MT Beauty Nationals track!! Can’t Wait!!!!
Nathan Murphy Once again I was back in the car traveling a huge distance to race my bike. This time I was headed straight back to my old nemesis‌.Shepparton. We were racing the same track that only 6 months ago had left me with a 2 inch scar on my forehead so I was keen to get back to this track and land that awkward set of jumps again. To be honest a few people had been sending me messages during that week to see if I was going to the event and if I was ready to hit that jump again. I have a very casual approach to racing and I had done some larger jumps over the off season so it did not worry me too much. However with the jump setup (and with jumping being my biggest weakness) I did have to get a few runs out of my system before I was pumped enough to hit it. The track was wild loose as there was a lot of dusty debris on the blown out turns. The track is not superfast but it takes quite a bit of skill to get down without making too many mistakes. I had the bike setup well before I came to the event and chose to run with a Schwable Big Betty 2.35 vert star for the front and a Schwable Wicked Will 2.35 vert star for the rear (25psi front and 28psi rear - all tubeless). The tyres were hocking up great in the corners and I could feel the bike accelerating on the straights. This acceleration from the tyres is something im really enjoying about the schwable products and im really a big fan of the Wicked Will knob design. If I had bad body position or my weight in the wrong area then the tyre would let go a little but if I got my technique right then the tyres gripped the entire way down the track. It was hot all weekend and hydration and energy were also important to manage. GU Energy was good enough to supply the team with another kit of gels and electrolytes. The heat was draining my energy stores but the GU products really made a difference and I was able to practice through the heat and feel comfortable all weekend long. I was happy to see the strawberry and banana flavour GU gels (as this is my favourite flavour) so I managed to set a few of these aside for the Sundays racing.
Sunday bloody Sunday. I will be honest and say that im really disappointed with the way I rode at Shepparton. It’s not my favourite track but I was having fun i just found it difficult to get into the zone. Im really casual and relaxed in my approach to most things and racing is no different but I just need to get my mind in a better place. With all the lines on the track dialled and knowing that all I had to do was to get down the hill in one piece I set up my qualifying run to achieve this. In qualifying I made some small mistakes and took some slightly different lines but they did not really cost me much time. Then after the big rock huck to flat I went really low and had no support to turn on so I entered the next section quite slow. Then all I needed to do was to hit the jump and I was basically home free. I shifted into a quick gear so I could get maximum acceleration from the 2 flat corners before the jumps and I was happy with the speed and the line that I was riding on. I hit the first double really smoothly and when I got ready for the next jump I noticed my bike was too far right and I missed the lip of the jump. With little time to react I tried to make the best of a bad situation but I was going too fast to ride it out and I went over the bars and ran down the track. At this point qualifying was over for me as I had ridden too safe up top to make up the time I needed to get into the finals. Thinking about my runs (both at You Yangs and Shepparton) I know that im way too relaxed up top before I drop in. I like to think that this is a good thing to do but I know now that I need to be way more aggressive and that it might not hurt to put a little more pressure on myself to try and achieve more. The past 2 results have been nowhere near where I feel I should be at so it’s embarrassing to finish up the weekend in 38th position. I can take the positives out of the poor result and hopefully this will drive me to train harder and take some more risks. You can watch the qualifying run from the below link http://vimeo.com/31700113
Final Results Michael Watt 10th with a 2:16.34 David Leach 36th with a 2:29.34 Nathan Murphy 38th with a 2:30.59 Fabian Bill – did not race due to injuries Ben Rohloff - did not race due to injuries Jack O’Hare – did not race due to study for VCE exams
Future Events for the WolfPack Team Training Weekend – Mt Beauty (19th – 20th November) To give the boys more experience we will visit the track which will be raced for the 3rd round of the VDHS. This will provide plenty of knowledge for the coming event and will hopefully provide more confidence for the team. VDHS Round 3 – Mt Beauty (3rd – 4th December) The 3rd round of the VDHS will be held on the Nationals track at Mt Beauty. The track is a good length and is very rocky and tight. It also has a steep shoot at the bottom which will make for some exciting viewing. With the training camp before the event im sure all the boys will be excited to race this event. Gravity Cup Round 1 – Thredbo, NSW (9th – 11th December) The first round of the “new look” Australian National MTB series. Thredbo is a unique track and is easily the longest track on the racing calendar at 3.5km in length. It’s very physical and lends its self to the local riders who can limit their practice runs to save energy for the race. It will be an exciting event and hopefully the best riders in Australia will attend to race for victory.
Team Wrap Up The team has been training hard and riding often. It has been disappointing that we have a few riders out with injuries and perhaps some of the boys are not so excited about their results but this is all a part of racing a mountain bike and the team can use this for extra motivation to achieve their personal goals. At this stage we should have 2 more riders back for the next VDHS round at Mt Beauty. The young guns of the team Jack and Fabian will be out to prove that they can get the fastest WolfPack time of the day. The VDHS is now beginning to get into the good tracks with some longer more traditional terrain. I think this is where some of the other boys will have a chance to mix it up with the upper levels of the ranks and get some recognition for the hard work they put into riding. Thanks again for your support and we will see you at the next event If you missed the previous edition please see the link below. It’s already had over 150 views. http://issuu.com/MagnetoDesign/docs/wolfpack_mag_rnd1_2011/1 Also for the latest information and updates on the teams progress check out the facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/WolfPackDownhillRacing
http://www.facebook.com/WolfPackDownhillRacing Contact: Nathan Murphy - 0457 740 980